Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The U.S. Justice Department will no longer fight the release of prisoners who have been deemed “legally innocent,” the USA Today reports.
The department’s move, announced Monday, follows a USA Today investigation that found more than 60 people were imprisoned even though an appeals court later determined they did not commit a federal crime.
It’s unclear how many prisoners could be set free under the switch, but most of them likely are low-level offenders, according to the USA Today.
USA Today wrote:
The investigation found that the Justice Department had done almost nothing to identify those prisoners — many of whom did not know they were innocent — and had argued in court that the men were innocent but should remain imprisoned anyway.
